Green Living

Save the cypress groves by supporting your local arborist

Cypress groveWhat can you do to reduce waste, save money and potentially even help with reducing the destruction caused by hurricanes?  Don’t buy commercial mulch!  70% of mulch sold in the US is made from cypress trees, while naturally organic and well liked for residential and commercial use, we are destroying our cypress groves that are crucial to swamp habitat in the coastal southeast and southcentral US, as well as, protecting our wetlands.  Without these groves and wetlands intact, flooding and devastation is much worse during these severe storms (hello hurricane Harvey and Irma!).

 

 

So what other options do we have?

It had been quite some time since I had mulched my entire yard, so I wanted to do a little research and see what earth friendly options are recommended.  I was scrolling through Facebook last week and saw an add for FREE mulch from the service www.getchipdrop.com.  I clicked on the link and filled out the form, even though I was a little leery.  I received an automated message back that informed me I was on the list of residents to get a free load of mulch (from local arborists that need to get rid of wood chips) and asked me to reply back with some various acceptance terms.  Would I accept any type of wood chips?  Did they all need to be very small or could I accept some branches if reasonably small, etc.  I agreed to accept a load of any kind of wood chip and with a few small branches.  Later that week I got a call that they were delivering my mulch to my driveway and that I should call them back with any specific directions on where to drop it.  It was a bit of a shock on how much mulch was actually delivered…the company’s website estimates each drop to be around 15 yards – the size of a mini van.

The delivery did include some small branches that we removed and saved for kindling.  There was also some leaves and greenery that we left in the mulch to act as a composting agent.  Applying the mulch fairly thick covered any greenery that was left in the mixture.  While this was quite bit of work, it was well worth the money we saved ($300-500 avg for delivered mulch not installed).   We didn’t use cypress mulch, and we helped out a local tree removal service that may have had to dispose of this in a landfill.  A total win, win, win!  Not to mention, we certainly got our exercise that week!

I’ve used the black and brown dyed mulch in the past and while it looks nice, I think I prefer the mixed hardwood look…it’s less manicured and more natural.  Here’s a look at the finished yard.

 

Finished backyard mulched with arborists woodchips

Fully mulched tree

Summary
Save cypress groves and support your local arborist
Article Name
Save cypress groves and support your local arborist
Description
What can we do to reduce waste, save money and potentially even help with reducing the destruction caused by hurricanes?  Don't buy cypress mulch!
Author
Publisher Name
Flawless Chaos
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